forddaughter Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 :happy feet: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33192916/ns/bu...he_drivers_seat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ford-boy Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Toyota faces another possible PR problem. This reported today in my local paper. "The U.S. International Trade Commission will start a probe into a claim by Florida based Paice Llc that some Toyota vehicles infringe a patent for a way of supplying torque to a car's wheels from both an electric motor and internal combustion engine." Paice has already won a civil patent suit against Toy which was upheld on appeal. Toy was ordered to pay make royalty payments at that time but now the Trade Commission can actually order an import ban. The new complaint is directed at the hybrid Camry, Prius, hybrid Highlander and Lexus hybrids. Can't wait to see how this goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tico Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Is it just me or are others wondering why someone would crash if the accelerator was stuck under the floor mat. Why would you not either 1. reach down and pull the floor mat back. 2. Turn the key to the off position. or 3. put the car in neutral. All seem better than running off the road at 100+ MPH. OF course most who buys these cars are not exactly "mechanically inclined". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92merc Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Is it just me or are others wondering why someone would crash if the accelerator was stuck under the floor mat. Why would you not either 1. reach down and pull the floor mat back. 2. Turn the key to the off position. or 3. put the car in neutral. All seem better than running off the road at 100+ MPH. OF course most who buys these cars are not exactly "mechanically inclined". It was discussed quite a bit in another thread. But here's the basic run down. 1. Don't know. Probably panicked. 2. Was push button start. Probably didn't know you had to hold the button to kill the engine. 3. Don't know. But it was also a loaner vehicle, not his. So he was unfamiliar with the car. Some also state he should have been able to use the brakes. Those should have been able to over power the engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tico Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Some also state he should have been able to use the brakes. Those should have been able to over power the engine. I don't know. When I stand on the brakes and floor my mustang at the same time I just sit there in a cloud of smoke!!! :shades: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weiweishen Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Is it just me or are others wondering why someone would crash if the accelerator was stuck under the floor mat. Why would you not either 1. reach down and pull the floor mat back. 2. Turn the key to the off position. or 3. put the car in neutral. All seem better than running off the road at 100+ MPH. OF course most who buys these cars are not exactly "mechanically inclined". How many people can be as calm as you when they can not stop the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2005Explorer Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Toyota has gotten the old "Do anything to be #1 problem." It hit GM in the 1970's and Ford in the late 90's under Nasser. Toyota is so blindsided by being the biggest automaker they forgot what got them there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggoodin Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 How many people can be as calm as you when they can not stop the car. Anyone that should actually be on the road driving. Whats happening to Toyota is the reality of life on top and being generally right. Everyone below you is taking potshots and over exaggerating flaws in efforts to pull you down. At the end of the day they are still king of the hill even though they took a couple lumps they will be stronger moving forward. I was discussing this zip tie fix with my wife the other day. I came to the conclusion that this is the giant "Fuck You" to everyone that bothers to drag the car in for recall. Toyota is really telling them if they are so stupid that they need someone to fix their floor mat that they are only worth 2 zip ties. And thats how I feel too. Toyota is going through the motions, like they have to and responding like they should. This reminds me of an initially criticized move by Sprint about 2 years ago. They informed the top customer service caller customers that their contracts were cancelled and to get lost. A giant Fuck You to the bottom of their customer barrel. Kinda like 2 zip ties. Fuck You we are moving on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 (edited) Anyone that should actually be on the road driving. Whats happening to Toyota is the reality of life on top and being generally right. Everyone below you is taking potshots and over exaggerating flaws in efforts to pull you down. At the end of the day they are still king of the hill even though they took a couple lumps they will be stronger moving forward. I was discussing this zip tie fix with my wife the other day. I came to the conclusion that this is the giant "Fuck You" to everyone that bothers to drag the car in for recall. Toyota is really telling them if they are so stupid that they need someone to fix their floor mat that they are only worth 2 zip ties. And thats how I feel too. Toyota is going through the motions, like they have to and responding like they should. This reminds me of an initially criticized move by Sprint about 2 years ago. They informed the top customer service caller customers that their contracts were cancelled and to get lost. A giant Fuck You to the bottom of their customer barrel. Kinda like 2 zip ties. Fuck You we are moving on. It's that type of arrogance what brought GM down. Saying "Fuck You" to your customers, regardless of the reason, is bad business. The real issue is all the other potential customers who see this. If a customer comes in to UPS with a complaint (valid or not), do you say "Fuck You!" to them in front of all your other customers? Edited October 11, 2009 by TomServo92 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-150 Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Is it just me or are others wondering why someone would crash if the accelerator was stuck under the floor mat. Why would you not either 1. reach down and pull the floor mat back. 2. Turn the key to the off position. or 3. put the car in neutral. All seem better than running off the road at 100+ MPH. OF course most who buys these cars are not exactly "mechanically inclined". Explorer rollovers: during a tire blowout, why not put both hands on the wheel and gently bring the vehicle to a stop Courts said "doesn't matter" Same goes here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggoodin Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 It's that type of arrogance what brought GM down. Saying "Fuck You" to your customers, regardless of the reason, is bad business. The real issue is all the other potential customers who see this. If a customer comes in to UPS with a complaint (valid or not), do you say "Fuck You!" to them in front of all your other customers? In some cases you just can't satisfy someone and (speaking locally only) we have refused to service individual people occasionally and there are companies we have let walk because we can not service them profitably either. The outlandish demands of some customers know no end, what happens is you ignore everyone else while chasing that one habitually unsatisfied customer. Thats a bad deal and you lose focus on what makes you money and what works for the majority of the customers. The best business decision after all remedy has been exhausted is to (nicely) let them walk (I even help them with the competitions phone numbers and locations) and work with improving your profitable customers experience. Let that unreasonable customer find someone else to run ragged and sap dry. Its happens more often than not that that person is back with a new attitude when the competition tells them to eat shit. They remember you did everything reasonable and then politely refused in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 In some cases you just can't satisfy someone and (speaking locally only) we have refused to service individual people occasionally and there are companies we have let walk because we can not service them profitably either. The outlandish demands of some customers know no end, what happens is you ignore everyone else while chasing that one habitually unsatisfied customer. Thats a bad deal and you lose focus on what makes you money and what works for the majority of the customers. The best business decision after all remedy has been exhausted is to (nicely) let them walk (I even help them with the competitions phone numbers and locations) and work with improving your profitable customers experience. Let that unreasonable customer find someone else to run ragged and sap dry. Its happens more often than not that that person is back with a new attitude when the competition tells them to eat shit. They remember you did everything reasonable and then politely refused in the end. I agree with that 100%. I've worked in a service environment and there are customers you just have to let go but you have to do it "nicely" (as you put it) or run the risk of bad press. While you may think a customer is an idiot, there are others out there that trust their opinions. I will make 2 points about the Toyota issue specifically: 1) You and I might think that anyone who doesn't make sure their flootmats won't interfere with the safe operation of their vehicle are stupid but now that the feds are involved, it lends credibility in the minds of many customers. 2) Dealing with this issue in a sloppy manner reflects on the company as a whole. Toyota built a reputation on customer service (regardless of reality). There has to be a better way to deal with this or they will alienate current or potential customers. You can say that Toyota customers are mindless sheep and will say "Thank you sir! May I have another?" (and there are many like that). However, many bought Toyotas with an expectation of a quality product and service. They'll bolt if they feel they won't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CivicDuty2007 Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 I would rather buy a Honda or Mazda product if I chose anything other than Ford or GM. Toyota sucks!!!!!............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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